Reddit’s 80GB of Stolen Data Can Get Leaked by Hackers From ALPHV/BlackCat
On a dark web blog, the Russia-linked (AlphV/Blackcat hacker) ransomware gang claims to have broken into the company’s data in February 2023. They’ve taken 80 gigabytes of compressed documents and internal data. It contains sensitive user information like usernames and passwords from Reddit. So far, the hacker group hasn’t shown any proof regarding the claim. According to them, Reddit did not attempt to determine what kind of data was stolen. Blackcat further mentioned that Reddit must pay $4.5 million and remove its recent price hikes for its API in exchange for data dealing.
A Bit of Background Behind Reddit’s Stolen Data
Reddit CTO Christopher Slowe, AKA Keysersosa said that their systems were hacked on 5th February 2023. Because of that, some internal documents and personnel data that contained sensitive user information from Reddit have been stolen by hackers during a “highly-targeted” breach of the company’s systems cyber security. Slowe continued by saying that the business had no evidence that passwords and other private user information had been stolen. Reddit did not provide any additional information regarding the hack or its perpetrators.
When the Drama & Culprits Unfolded
On 17 June, Blackcat posted an article regarding this incident. In the post titled The Reddit Files, Blackcat claims it contacted Reddit twice, on April 13 and June 16. But, they did not hear back.
The post said, “We informed them through our initial email that we would hold off till their IPO to come out. But this feels like the ideal chance”. Further, “we are extremely convinced that Reddit will not pay any money for their data”.
In the article, they demanded Reddit to pay $4.5 million and removed its recent price hikes for API in exchange for returning the data.
Reddit Continues to Face the Heat of Controversy
Reddit has seen several communities go black, effectively going down in protest of the way the site has been operating. This includes proposals to charge for access to its data. However, companies have announced that they will need an Application Programming Interface (API) to access the site’s data. And as Reddit stated back in April, this “premium access” is now quite expensive.
How Will the API Access Change Affect Reddit users
It is anticipated that the planned changes will effectively put an end to third-party Reddit programs like Apollo. This allow users to surf the website with a customizable interface.
According to Apollo’s lone developer, Christian Selig, such apps would need to charge around $5 per user per month just to use the new Reddit premium access. Which sounds exorbitant, in all honesty.
Conclusion
Strong cybersecurity safeguards are essential, and ransomware assaults are becoming a bigger concern. This comes as evidenced by the ransom demand from the BlackCat ransomware organization. The current issue over Reddit’s API pricing has also brought attention to the necessity of openness and cooperation between platform providers and developers. Organizations must take precautions to safeguard themselves and their users as the threat of cyberattacks increases. This entails making investments in cybersecurity safeguards, educating staff about best practices, and working with industry partners to exchange knowledge and best practices.